Pocahontas (1595 – 1617) – She was made famous by the Disney movie about her interactions with the early American settlers of Jamestown, Virginia. Her marriage, in 1614, to settler John Rolfe was the first interracial marriage in American history.

First of all, Pocahontas was a nickname which meant “playful one” or “ill-behaved child”. Her real name was Amonute.

She was a child when taken to England. There were no love stories with John Smith here. Once in England, Amonute was brainwashed. She has paraded around as an example of a civilized savage. It was one of the pre-cursor for forcing native children into residential schools where they were physically and mentally abused and even killed.

She was eventually given a choice to return home or stay. She obviously chose to stay as she had been thought to view her own people as dirty uneducated savages.